Operational efficiency and safety are of paramount importance for companies across all sectors. Only when organisations decide to build long-term stability and sustainability into their operational strategies and invest into safety culture that focuses on reliability, workforce competence and operational readiness, will they be equipped to weather the downturns and capitalise on upswings in a measured and profitable way.

Operators need to increase their margins and tightly control costs, whilst ensuring that safety and reliability are not compromised. Effective leadership is essential in managing the process of continuous improvement and ensuring that employees are empowered with data, information and procedures transparently in a role-based manner to assist in fast, accurate actions which lead to consistently good decisions.

It is also widely acknowledged that organisations must develop their technical safety path, focusing on their plant, safety, reliability and human interfaces in order to achieve the target of no surprises and zero accidents. A focus on safety is the number one priority for companies, with operators, manufacturers, suppliers and consultants developing innovative and effective solutions in these areas.

With these challenges in mind, key players are meeting in London for Euro Petroleum Consultants’ International OpEx & Safety Forum (IOSF).

On the 15th and 16th January, participants will discuss case studies that outline their challenges, successes and key learnings as well as the latest trends, tools and techniques that will help drive us to achieve even greater levels of operational excellence improvements, allowing companies to innovate in the areas of ‘people’, ‘process’, ‘assets’ and ‘technology’. IOSF will include presentations by leading operators Essar Oil UK, ENOC, Saudi Aramco as well as cutting-edge consultants and service providers such as Aveva, Solomon Associates, DEKRA, KBR Consulting, and Emerson Process Management amongst others.

Solomon Associates, who are holding a pre-conference workshop at IOSF, believe that as the world becomes a global marketplace, market forces will lead to an unprecedented focus on controllable costs and this will require a change in philosophy. “Successful companies will be prepared for change management and the remainder will try to react. Investment in maximisation of value through effective use of management systems and reliability agendas will grow substantially” says Kevin McQuillan, Senior consultant at Solomon Associates. Colin Chapman, President of Euro Petroleum Consultants adds “a high level of operational efficiency has always been of great importance for oil, gas and petrochemical industries. Companies invest billions of dollars in high-quality assets acquisition, while the return on investment is only possible if plants are operated safely and efficiently. In recent years we have witnessed high volatility in oil and gas prices, so the importance of operational excellence is higher than ever”.

IOSF will provide opportunities for one-to-one discussions with leading experts thus providing a platform for gaining and sharing knowledge related to improving operational efficiency and safety, both at leadership level and in manufacturing operations.